Why is socializing your puppy important?

Not too long ago while dog training in Brooklyn, our Long Island Dog Training School was delighted to see this Brooklyn Labrador puppy that displayed nothing but the utmost confidence.  One of the reasons for this article on SOCIALIZATION can be attributed to our Brooklyn dog training lessons with this Lab.

Socializing your puppy is a very necessary thing included in a dog’s training. A puppy who socializes well, can handle all sort of changes in the environment. If your puppy is friendly, he will be able to tackle situations appropriately for instance if kids ride their scooter over his tail or if any visitor forcibly keeps petting your puppy.

With Socializing it will be a better and safe place for your puppy to live. When Socializing your puppy kindly keep your attention to these areas:-

1. Things
2. People
3. Places
4. Other animals

To avoid any problem in the future it is necessary to keep a leash with your puppy. This will help your puppy in many perspectives like you can keep your puppy away if any cycle or car passes by.

Socializing your puppy with people is also important (Our Brooklyn Labrador Retriever was a pleasure to watch around people, his demeanor was fantastic)!  This will help them in understanding both male and female human behaviors of different ages and regions. It is very essential to take your dog somewhere outside like the park, beach and so on. Outside he gets a chance to observe lots of people, and children .They even play with children because dogs enjoy most with kids and simply love playing with them. It also helps in keeping your puppy active.

Take your puppy along with you wherever you think it is possible. It gives them the exposure to various social settings. Always remember to stay calm and relaxed when socializing your puppy it also applies in different areas like people, things or animals.

People and animal both enter in this world without knowing anybody. A puppy is just like a newborn baby who needs your support to familiarize with the world. If you don’t socialize your puppy then he might turn out to be antisocial, fearful ( fear aggression) and anxious dog.

Make your puppy socialized it is important, as it helps them interact with other dogs.  Our Brooklyn dog training prodigy…Baily was great around other dogs! This is possible by enrolling them in a puppy class. It is very essential to choose the best puppy classes available. Choose the class where they don’t teach dog by punishing them. This can have a negative impact on your puppy. He can become ferocious which is not good for people around him.

There are many preschools for dogs which start at the age of eight weeks and ends at twelve weeks. Proper socialization takes time. You have to be very patient. In the end this patience will show the result as you will notice your puppy is well behaved and very friendly.

Socializing your puppy will be a bit difficult but you can’t avoid it as it is very necessary for your dog. More quickly your dog learns to trust other animals, objects and people he will be behaving in the near future. Whenever you have time take your puppy out for socializing. You may also receive lots of appreciations from the people saying that how sweet and friendly your dog is.

A little Long Island Rottweiler Dog Training with our Dog Board and Train member Dante.  Dante is (3) years old.  Talk about a teddy bear, this Rottweiler from Massapequa is admired by many Wantagh shoppers.  Our Long Island Dog Training is geared towards distraction training.  We like to prep the dog as well as the owner for real life situations.

Why is a Prong Collar better to use than a Choke collar?

Dog collars are basically used to train dogs. They look very stylish. These days it has become most important to purchase one for your dog. As your dog grows, you have to purchase new collars to accomplish certain goals and needs. There are lots of reasons why dogs need collars. Dog Collars come in various varieties but among all, the most famous ones are the Prong collar and choke collar.

We have seen many torture devices in the market like iron maiden, the rack and thumb screw. The appearance of the prong collar is no different than a torture device. If appearance of the collar matters so much, then why do we see prong collar in every pet store for sale? Do the pet shopkeepers like to torture dogs by making them wear prong collar? No. Prong collars looks torturous but they never harm a dog, when used correctly. In fact the prong collar is the most preferable in comparison to choke collar.

Choke collars are comparatively very dangerous for dogs. It comes in different fabrics like nylon. It doesn’t matter whether you choose chain or nylon fabric. If you don’t use a Choke collar properly then it will damage your dogs’ neck. It is not considered safe for a dog that is why many pet lovers prefer the prong collar to keep their pet safe.

The basic objective behind the prong collar is to encourage positive behavior by discouraging bad behavior like tugging at the leash.  Prong collars are not designed to give pain for every bad behavior of dogs. The appearance of the prong collar looks like an adult dogs teeth.

Prong and choke collars both are used for the training purpose.  Before using dog collars it is necessary to know the proper usage otherwise it will end up hurting your animal. In spite of the bad appearance of  the prong collar they are still very popular and used widely in the market.  If we compare both, the prong collar is any day better then choke collar because:-

1. A prong collar can be tightened to a limited extent. This quality is very important as the prong collar helps your dog to breathe properly, prevents from neck injuries such as soft tissue damage, damage to the spine and collapsing trachea whereas on the other hand choke collars can cause many injuries to your dog like severely sprained necks, ocular blood vessels, transient, fainting and so on. 

      2.  Choke collars when tightened become very difficult to release. This is very dangerous for your dog as he can die on the spot because of less oxygen. Whereas there is no difficulty with prong collars as it they can be tightened to a limited extent only.

      3.   Prong collars don’t require lot of force during the training purpose. But with the choke collar the owners have to pull the leash if a dog misbehaves.

This comparison will be very effective in telling you that a prong is better to use than a choke collar and much more advisable.

Most trick training isn’t a necessity, as much as obedience dog training is. Our Long Island Dog Training Program focuses on obedience training; however, this trick seems to be somewhat of a necessity!  this dog trick is not good for any one on a low carb diet.

Massapequa, Long Island, Rottweiler joins our Long Island Dog Board and Train  program.  Dante, who is a (3) year old male Rottweiler came to us because of his jumping, unruly dominant behaviors.  This is his 1st day with us, due to the weather we started his Long island dog board and train with the PLACE command, my favorite command.  This Rottweiler picks up fast, he recognizes what is expected of him and goes to work. 

Once again, we start our Long Island Boarding off with bad weather, some of the many challenges that dog board and train programs face.  Let’s see how this Rottweiler dog handles the obstacle.  Will Dante the Massapequa Rottweiler rise to the occasion?  Stay tuned for some updated videos and comments on our Rottweiler guest.

You need to be congratulated as you have got a new puppy. You are certainly overwhelmed with love as well as confusion. Being an owner of a new puppy several things are to be learnt by you. Crate training which is important is also included in this. As compared with other training techniques, you will see that crate training has much to offer.  You can get your puppy on a feeding schedule.  This is significant because after this, your puppy is put on a bathroom schedule.

This makes the experience of entire potty training for both of you much easier.  Crate training for puppy can place your puppy on a feeding schedule.   The reason is because you take charge of your puppy when he is fed.  Instead of following outdated techniques of keeping the food out throughout the day, all you need now is to keep the food at the time scheduled for eating. Your nutrition of puppy will be controlled by you along with your puppy being placed on bathroom schedule.  Additionally getting a bathroom schedule will also enable you to potty train the puppy.  Generally, where they are eating and sleeping, they won’t be using the bathroom over there so as not to mess with the sleeping area;  he will intimate you when he is set to go.  Involving a crate would make puppy training quite convenient and easier.   In order to avoid confusion for your puppy, you have to be certain that you are keeping to the schedule.  Puppies get familiar to the schedules very fast.   If the schedule is not followed up properly, your training will be messed up.   Another benefit of crate training is that the owner need not worry about the puppy chewing throughout the house. The minute you notice him chewing, you just have to tell him no and place him back in the crate (please don’t misunderstand what I mean by this: you will not scream at your new puppy you will just place/command them to their crate.  This will not come over as punishment).  This method of training is the best one for the owners who are new, as this enables the whole process of training much simpler and smoother.

To purchase a crate of right size is the most essential thing to be done.  Space is needed by your dog to sit and turn around comfortably while he is inside, but if space that is too big is provided, then there is a possibility of him to get rid of the crate by using one of the corner of the crate.  Favorite toys should be placed inside (safety should be paramount when selecting the toys) as these will help to keep him busy when you are out of the house.

As with any articles found on this Long Island Dog Training Blog, it is the contention of the author to clarify that the articles are opinions, experience, and beliefs of the dog trainer.  In addition, any article posted to the Long Island Dog Training Blog is not a substitute for puppy or dog training, especially when it comes to behavioral problems such as aggression.

Dominance among dogs is evident in many ways, depending on the activation trigger and the environment your pet lives in. If it reacts aggressively, when you touch it while it is eating, it can be a sign of dominant dog behavior.  This is actually a protective behavior exhibited by dogs to guard their resources. Dominant behavior may also surface if it is not getting anything it wishes, like any particular toy. If charm fails to work then it might resort to barking fiercely to get the thing it wants.

Dogs are pack animals and this is basically the reason why they display dominant traits and also many other behavioral issues. So, if you have a dominant dog that tends to become aggressive when denied something it wants, keep reading, but more importantly consult with a professional dog training school. There are many measures you can undertake to control this behavior. First and foremost, establish your position as the owner in your dog’s mind very clearly. This is a very crucial issue and it should be done at any cost. If the leadership of the household is not clear, your dog may assume the role as it is their instinct.  As a reminder, this conduct, new behavior very rarely happens over night, it many cases it happens in small increments at an undetected level and pace.  A dominant dog may start by taking small liberties and then become increasingly stubborn regarding its wishes. So, it is necessary to prove your role as the leader as early as possible. This does not mean that you should physically punish or lock up your dog. Instead, be firm and authoritative, rewarding proper conduct simultaneously.

Sometimes, even owners unsuspectingly train their pets to behave in a dominant fashion which they discourage later. The tug of war game is one such game, where you in fact train your dog to go against you and also overpower you in addition to being aggressive.  As far as this Long Island Dog Training School is concerned, tug of war should be introduced when and only when your puppy or dog understands that you are the pack leader, because it may boost the competitive spirit in a dominant dog. Playing fetch is the safest game and it also teaches the pet to report to you.

Make sure that you start training your dog as early as possible because it is easier to control your dog when he is younger. You should start training your pet preferably, when he is a puppy. Behavioral rules learned at a young age are easily accepted by puppies and you may find it a bit difficult when you try to rectify aggressive behavior in grown dogs.

Another measure to correct dominant dogs is exercising them on a regular basis. This results in curbing their excess energy and excitement as well which consequently curbs aggressive behavior. It is a proven fact that dogs that lack exercise tend to be more aggressive and dominant than well exercised dogs. The trick is to provide an outlet for the excess energy.

The main aim of all these measures is to guarantee safety of your family as well as your dog so that your dog can be a loving and loyal friend of you and your family. Now you probably have a complete idea on how to deal with dominant dogs.

Pet owners must have noticed their dog snarl or growl when any other dog or even you approach it when it is eating. This is actually known as dog food aggression, Our Long Island Dog Training  School has seen different levels of this aggression. It is one of the many behavioral problems faced by dogs and this can be mitigated by dog training techniques. Once your training is successful, your dog maybe more happy and safer from undesirable consequences of dog food aggression towards other dogs or humans. However, please remember that our Long Island Dog Training School advocates using  the word mitigating or modifying, rather than curing, if it is cured that is a bonus, but not an expectation. 

If you come across dog food aggression in your dog you should take him to a veterinarian as this behavior may be provoked by any kind of medical condition. A medical reason usually includes diet, which is may be incompatible to the digestive system of your pet. If that reason is proven to be not applicable to the dog food aggression of your pet you should move on to other options. There are many reasons because of which your dog may exhibit this kind of behavior. Dog food aggression is a kind of dominant dog behavior. 

Insecurity about food which means feeling as if it is the last bowl of food it may be getting for a while may be one of the reasons. Sometimes, lack of socialization with humans as well as other dogs also results in dog food aggression. Also, not exercising your pet on a regular basis may lead to over excitement in the form of nervous dog aggression. Abuse and abandonment also goes a long way in altering dog psychology. It is a commonly observed problem among rescued and adopted dogs. 

Dog food aggression can be treated in a number of ways. Exercising your dog sufficiently is one way of treating this aggression. By doing this you actually relieve dogs of their pent up energy which lessens their excitement and also their aggressiveness. Disciplining your dog is also useful but take care that you do not punish your dog physically or in any other way and try to reward it if it performs admirably to your commands. It should be noted that physical punishment, apart from being inhuman, actually raises the aggression levels dangerously in your dog. Last but not the least you should establish your position as the owner as clearly as possible. One way of proving this is letting your dog eat after you have finished.  

In a nutshell, dog food aggression may be caused by a number of behavioral or medical problems. However, you can definitely treat them by adhering to proper humane and professional methods. If after using all the available measures, you still do not get the desired results you should immediately consult a dog behavioral specialist or a veterinarian. You should never forget that hitting your dog is never an option. It only worsens the aggressive behavior of your dog and is also unacceptable. Your pet actually deserves and needs all your love and affection. You and your dog will be very happy together if you follow a professional’s advice to correct dog food aggression.